Homogeneity of personal values and personality traits in Facebook social networks

Focusing on similarity of personal values and of personality traits, we investigated who is friends with whom in Facebook friendships. A Facebook application administered questionnaires and retrieved data on whom in our sample of 3348 participants were friends. On average, participants had 8.7 friends within our sample. People similar to each other, either regarding personal values or personality traits, tended to be friends. Moreover, the effect of similarity was not evenly distributed across the value or trait continuums. Those scoring high on Openness to Change or Self-Transcendence values were more likely to be friends with people sharing these values. Regarding personality, those high in Emotional Stability or Openness to Experience, or low in Extraversion, tended to have similar friends. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.